


Lay Your Cards On The Table

by JemWithA_J



Category: Strike Back
Genre: Explicit Language, Torture, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-19
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-10-31 19:30:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17855627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JemWithA_J/pseuds/JemWithA_J
Summary: High Commissioner McKitterick needs a way out of the hole he has dug himself into. He thinks giving up Alexander Coltrane to the Triads is that way out.





	1. Chapter 1

As the bag was ripped from his head, Alex blinked into the low light trying to get his bearings. He was tied by his wrists to a chair in the middle of some basement. There were other people in the room but the lack of light was disorientating and made it difficult for him to work out who or how many.

“This is Colonel Alexander Coltrane…” A familiar voice drifted from the shadows, “He’s the man who ordered the hit on the Hanto Building.”

“James?” Alex frowned as McKitterick walked forward into the light, “What the fuck is this all about?”

McKitterick wouldn’t look at him. Instead he looked over into the darkness at another figure standing there.

“I brought you what you asked for.” He stated, “Can I go now?”

“Not just yet, High Commissioner,” another voice came from the shadows, “Please, take a seat. Be patient.”

“Laoshu…” Alex shook his head as the Triad henchman came into view, “I should have known this would have something to do with your new friends, James…”

“I told you…” McKitterick replied, his voice strained, “I told you they would target my family if I didn’t do what they said…”

“And I told you we would fucking protect them!!”

As Alex glared over at him he felt blinding pain and the crunch of bone as Laoshu threw a punch down against his cheek, toppling his chair to the floor. As he wrenched him back up by the collar of his shirt, Alex spat the blood from his mouth and stared defiantly at him.

“Your team.” Laoshu asked, calmly, “Where are they?”

Alex didn’t reply, his gaze never leaving Laoshu’s. His refusal to reply only served to earn him more viscous punches to the face and by the end of this beating the blood was streaming from his nose and mouth.

“Where are they?!”

Laoshu roared but still Alex refused to reply. He had more strength in him than a few punches would break. He’d have to try better than that. And the smirk on his face told Alex that he knew that. Gesturing to his men, Laoshu watched as they released Alex from the chair before binding his arms behind him once more and dragging him forward. As they pushed him to his knees in front of a large vat of water, Alex knew what was about to happen. Grabbing hold of him by his hair, Laoshu wrenched his head backwards.

“You will tell me there whereabouts of your team, Colonel…”

Alex swallowed as he stared up at him before slowly shaking his head. Laoshu nodded, silently impressed with the British soldier’s resolve. He preferred a challenge. Without giving Alex any warning he dragged him to his feet, throwing his head down into the icy water and holding it there, ready to see just how much it took to break him.


	2. Chapter 2

As his head was pulled from the water for the fifth time, Alex gasped for breath, coughing up the dirty water that mingled with the blood from his wounds.

“Still nothing to say to us, Colonel?”

They were pushing him closer and closer to breaking point every time and he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. But he wasn’t there yet. As he shook his head defiantly, Laoshu threw a punch down across his face once more before kicking him a few times for good measure. The ringing of his phone put an end to the onslaught. He answered it, speaking swiftly in Mandarin to whoever was on the other end before ending the call and barking orders in the same language to his men. They followed him to the door and as Laoshu left the room they stood guarding it. 

Relieved at getting a few minutes peace, Alex wrenched himself up into a sitting position, his back resting against the vat of water he felt sure would eventually be his undoing. He refused to appear broken in front of McKitterick, he needed him to see exactly what type of man he really was.

“Is this what you wanted James?”

He asked, watching McKitterick who sat on a chair in the corner, refusing to meet Alex’s eye.

“Don’t be ridiculous, Alexander…”

“Ridiculous?” Alex scoffed, “What did you think was going to happen when you had me brought here? That we were all going to sit and drink tea and discuss recent events in an amicable manner?”

“I just wanted to keep my family safe!” McKitterick replied, angrily, finally turning to face him, “They said if I did as they asked then no harm would come to them. I didn’t want to do this, Alexander, they left me no choice…”

“And you think this is it do you?” Alex growled back, “You think that you give them me and it’s all debts paid, a clean slate? You are in this up to your fucking eyeballs James and there is no way out. And if you think that I was your ticket out of here then you are more of a fool than I ever took you for…”

McKitterick opened his mouth to retort then closed it, turning away. Alex looked over at him. 

“Why did you recommend me for this job?”

“What?”

As McKitterick shook his head in annoyance, Alex smiled.

“You told anyone who would listen that I was the only man for the job. And I thought that was you giving me a chance. But you’ve taken every opportunity since not to congratulate me but to remind me of my past mistakes. So I’m just wondering. Was this you giving me a chance? Or was I just collateral damage?”

“Alexander I…”

“Just be honest, James.” Alex sighed, “If there was ever a time for you to be fucking honest then this is it. Any respect I once had for you is long gone. So please, don’t hold back on my account…”

McKitterick frowned as he got up from his seat and walked over to where Alex sat.

“You are a capable soldier, Alexander.” He answered eventually, “One of the most capable I’ve ever worked with. But even you must admit that you have never been the same since Afghanistan…”

“I lost an entire company of men, James!” Alex roared in anger, “Did you expect me to just forget that ever happened, get back on the fucking horse and carry on?! I blame myself for what happened. Every single day. And I see every single one of their faces every night I try to get to sleep…”

“Drink yourself to sleep…”

“Fuck you…” Alex seethed at his sarcastic retort, “You told me Section 20 were unmanageable. You sold it to me as my chance at redemption. When all along all you saw us as were pawns in your game. Well let me tell you James, they are better soldiers than you give them credit for. And the game? You’ve lost. But even if you take me down with you, they will figure out whatever the fuck you are up to and they will stop it. I promise you that…”

As Alex glared at him, he saw him swallow nervously and as the door opened and Laoshu walked in he walked over to him determinedly.

“I think our business here is done…” he stated, “I’d like to leave now…”

“Not quite, High Commissioner.” Laoshu replied, holding out a tablet towards him, “We need your signature. Diplomatic clearance for our vehicle to pass through security points…”

As Alex realised what was happening, his blood ran cold.

“James, don’t…”

He tried to struggle to his feet but one of Laoshu’s men whacked him across the face with the butt of his gun sending him crashing to the ground again before grabbing him and placing a gun to his head. McKitterick looked from Alex and back to Laoshu.

“I can’t do that…”

“You know what we can do, High Commissioner…” Laoshu replied, “To your family…”

“You told me they would be safe if I brought you him!”

McKitterick cried, looking over at Alex.

“The Colonel was only the first part of the deal. But if you do this then I swear to you your family will be safe. You have my word…”

“You can’t do this, James!” Alex looked over at the High Commissioner in desperation, “He’ll tell you exactly what you need to hear to get what he wants. You do this and you put the whole world in danger, don’t you understand?!”

McKitterick looked at his Commander, seeing the desperation in his eyes. And as he looked back at Laoshu he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt at what he was about to do.

“Nobody can know about this…”

He said, meaningfully to Laoshu, who nodded with a smile.

“Once we have extracted the information we need from him, he will be dealt with. No comebacks…”

Alex shook his head in disbelief as McKitterick looked over at him.

“I’m sorry, Alexander,” he said as he pressed his thumb to the sensor, “Truly I am…”


	3. Chapter 3

Alex watched in horror as McKitterick’s thumb electronically sealed the fate of so many innocent people, knowing there was nothing he could do. As Laoshu passed the tablet to one of his men who checked it before leaving the room he smiled at the High Commissioner.

“Thank you. And I’m sorry. I hope you understand that we can leave no loose ends…”

McKitterick looked over at Alex before turning back to Laoshu and nodding. And neither he nor Alex were expecting Laoshu to take his gun from his belt and shoot McKitterick right between his eyes. As McKitterick fell to the floor Alex once again tried to prize himself free from the guard holding him but with no success. As Laoshu placed the gun back in his belt and walked back over, Alex glared at him.

“You might as well shoot me now too…” he said, calmly, “Because I’m not going to tell you the whereabouts of my team. And with or without me they are intelligent enough to figure out what you are doing and stop you…”

“Colonel Coltrane…” The Triad henchman spoke softly as he came face to face with him, “You do me a disservice assuming I would give up so easily. You will die here, but I’m willing to wait as long as it takes to break you first. And I will break you…”

Grabbing hold of him again he pushed his head back under the water, holding it there much longer than any of the previous times and Alex unwillingly started to panic as he struggled to hold his breath. Just when he felt on the verge of passing out, Laoshu wrenched his head up and he finally managed to wrench his hands free of the knot in the rope he’d been working on ever since Laoshu left the room. Taking him by surprise he grabbed his head, bringing it down hard against the metal vat of water, knocking him unconscious before grabbing the gun from his belt and swiftly putting a bullet in his chest before turning and shooting the other man dead before he even had a chance to reach for his gun. Coughing up the filthy water he’d swallowed he stumbled over to McKitterick. Looking down at his body, his eyes open with shock, the clean bullet hole oozing blood perfectly between them, Alex shook his head.

“You fool…”

Reaching into the dead man’s pocket he grabbed hold of his phone and instantly began dialling a number. It only rang once before Mac picked up.

“McCallister, it’s me. I need a pick up, ASAP.”

“Boss? What’s going on? You went off grid, we…”

“No time to explain. You need to get here now. This is McKitterick’s phone. You need to track it and get my location. And watch your backs. I’ve got a feeling recent developments may have alerted the Triads here.”

“On our way, Boss. Hold tight.”

As Alex ended the call he checked the gun he had acquired before leaving the room and making his way out of wherever the hell he was, hoping he wouldn’t bump into anyone else on the way until the team had chance to get to him. The man who took the tablet from Laoshu was waiting at the door as Alex reached the top of the building. Alex watched as the man spoke into his phone, concern etched across his face, but he never gave him the chance to finish the conversation, shooting him in the back before heading out of the door just as he saw the team pull up. He didn’t bother grabbing the tablet. He knew the clearance had been authorised with McKitterick’s digital signature and with him dead there was nothing he could do to stop it. The door of the truck opened to reveal Mac waiting in the back just as the Triads arrived. Alex took a run for the door just as the Triads opened fire and Zarkova & Wyatt fired back at them. As Mac pulled the door closed behind Alex, Novin put her foot down, speeding away as the bullets ricocheted off the windscreen. As Alex collapsed to the floor, trying to catch his breath, Mac looked in concern at the state of his Commander.

“Jesus, what happened?”

Alex winced as he pulled himself up into a sitting position and looked at his Sergeant.

“High Commissioner McKitterick thought I’d make a good bargaining chip for the Triads…” he replied, matter of factly, “Unfortunately for him it didn’t play out too well and now he’s dead…”

As Mac continued looking at him, Alex spoke again.

“But more unfortunately for us, before they killed him he gave them diplomatic clearance for their vehicles to transport that stolen nuke out of the country…”

“Fuck…”

“Quite, Sergeant. And with him dead we can’t withdraw it. So all we can do is track it and get there before they smuggle it out. But we don’t have much time.”

Quiet disconcertion filled the air as the whole team tried to take in the mammoth task they needed to undertake. Alex knew it was a huge ask. But he also knew that if anyone could do it, it was Twenty.


End file.
